Sourcing methanol from China

Methanol duty and purity lines

Read from the UK Trade Tariff on 1 October 2026, heading 2905 covers acyclic alcohols and their specified derivatives. This guide covers methanol only. Code 2905 11 00 10 covers methanol with purity by weight of 99.85% or more; 2905 11 00 90 covers other methanol. The table repeats these codes for industrial and laboratory buying applications; the application alone does not determine the code.

Both methanol lines carry 0% duty for goods from China. The supplied tariff record lists no anti-dumping or countervailing duty and no suspension for either line. It attaches an export control for waste, rather than a methanol import control. If the shipment is waste or recovered material whose status is uncertain, ask your customs broker to confirm the applicable requirement. For waste imports under notification controls, the exporter must seek consent from the competent authority in the country of dispatch.

Confirm the commodity code against the actual composition and batch analysis before declaring the goods. For the wider alcohol heading, see our n-butanol guide. Zero duty does not remove import VAT; see UK import duty and VAT.

Specify methanol purity and contamination

State the intended industrial process or laboratory use, minimum methanol assay, maximum water content, acidity and permitted impurities. Agree test methods and acceptance criteria with the supplier. Specify whether virgin or recovered material is acceptable, the container material, closure type and batch identification.

Request a certificate of analysis for the actual production batch, rather than a generic specification sheet. Match the batch to the drums and arrange independent testing where contamination would affect your process. Laboratory use needs its own agreed specification; the tariff purity threshold is not a laboratory performance specification.

For Great Britain, confirm applicable UK REACH registration requirements with HSE, and check an English safety data sheet and GB chemical classification labels. Methanol ships as flammable and toxic dangerous goods. Agree the transport arrangements with a carrier that handles this product before placing the order.

Worked duty example

Illustrative example, not a quote: 15 tonnes of industrial methanol in drums, illustrative order under 2905 11 00 10, invoiced at £30,000 free on board, with £3,500 of freight and insurance to the UK. The customs value is £33,500. Duty at 0% is £0. Import VAT at 20% is charged on the customs value plus duty, £33,500, so it is £6,700. With no duty, the only import tax is the VAT, which a VAT-registered importer can usually reclaim. The import duty and VAT guide explains each step.

Inspection checklist

Identity: match the methanol description, batch identifiers, analysis certificate and safety data sheet.

Analysis: compare assay, water, acidity and agreed impurities with the purchase specification.

Containers: check seals, closures, corrosion, dents and signs of leakage without opening drums casually.

Documents: compare drum labels and dangerous goods paperwork with the supplied methanol and shipping documents.

What goes wrong

A purity claim can conceal excessive water or unwanted solvent contamination. Recovered material may be offered against a virgin-material order, and a generic certificate may describe a different batch. Agree the sampling and testing arrangements before shipment; visual inspection cannot establish methanol purity.

Damaged closures, leaking drums and mismatched batch records complicate receipt and traceability. Plan how the receiving site will isolate suspect stock and arrange competent assessment. Keep disputed material separate until its identity, condition and conformity with the order have been resolved.

Cambridge China Bridge sources these products for UK businesses, checking the factory and the documents before shipment. See factory verification. For repeat volumes, see container programmes.